Twenty five years ago, the NEA HIN was created to support NEA members in confronting the emerging HIV AIDS epidemic. As one of the earliest members of the NEA HIN staff, this anniversary offers me a time to reflect on that history.
Twenty five years ago we did not know as much as we do now about the disease, how to prevent transmission, or how to treat it. We did know that as educators, NEA members carried a special responsibility to inform, educate, and help to dispel the fears. One of the first pieces that HIN published was Responding to HIV and AIDS. While that is no longer in publication we followed up with The Red Book. Exposure to Blood and Bodily Fluids on the Job: What School Employees Need to Know. Now in its third edition, this book continues our quarter century legacy of HIV education.
NEA HIN trained NEA members, met with educators around the country, collaborated with other education organizations, and worked with NEA staff and members to make sure that rights were protected and that members understood their responsibilities. NEA HIN and NEA worked with other unions making sure that all health care workers were able to practice universal precautions. And most of all NEA HIN worked with NEA members and staff to make sure that no child or educator would be discriminated against based on their HIV status.
In twenty five years we have come a long way. Schools routinely provide information and training to staff on blood borne pathogens. Students are not excluded from school. Treatment means that people with HIV may live a long time. But we have not come far enough. In 2009 (the last year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has data), over 42,000 new cases of HIV were diagnosed, many of these in young people. So there is still more work to do.
Find out what you can do to protect yourself and then share that information with someone you care about. And thank you to NEA HIN for twenty five years of commitment.
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